No 14023, Saturday 18 Nov 2023, Afterdark

Too many errors by Afterdark nowadays.

ACROSS

9   Egg-laying mammals sheltered in stormy ocean, lack oxygen (7) ECHIDNA {HID} in {oCEAN}*

10 Perhaps collectors' items once, found on old attic, timeless and exceptional (7) EXOTICA {EX}{O}{ATtIC}*

11 Most slippery socialite runs away leaving auditor (7) OILIEST SOcIaLITE*

12 Say, infant's kit is delayed, still stuck inside (7) LAYETTE {LA{YET}TE}

13 Embarrassingly drunk lady dancing outside (9) ABASHEDLY {A{BASHEd}DLY*} How does the 'D' get deleted?

15 Land between faults can be found at Hyderabad capital or strait (5) HORST {Hy...d}{OR}{ST}

16 Removed seeds from ripe plum 50%, some durian to distribute (7) RIPPLED {RIPE+PLum+Du...n}*

19 Intellectual property used by two doctors primarily yields a method of laundering (4-3) DRIP-DRY {DR}{IP}{DR}{Yi...s}

20 Bad yeast leads to eye boils (5) STYES Error in fodder

21 New alliance primarily between two sets of soldiers to empty trucks of jewels (9) ORNAMENTS {OR}{N}{Al...e}{MEN}{Tr..kS}

25 Matrimonial special, only shown at American channel at the end (7) SPOUSAL {SP}{O}{USA}{c...eL}

26 Strange to sob at exercise lifting 100 with intensity at the start (7) CRYPTIC {CRY}{PT}{C} over {In...y}

28 Comprehend lessons somewhat, could be everlasting (7) ENDLESS [T]

29 Evasive English earl at backend takes first exit (3-4) EEL-LIKE {E}{E}{KILL<=}{Exit}

DOWN

1   Fish? More stew will be consumed by artists (6) REMORA {RA}{MORE*}{RA}

2   Type of cactus used to brew alcohol extracting the essence (6) CHOLLA ALCoHOL*

3   Inoperative papers kept by LTTE has no content (4) IDLE {ID}{LttE}

4   Remained at the back to finally engage in duel first (6) LASTED {LAST}{e...gE}{Duel}

5   Positioned with trick indeed (8) DEPLOYED {DE{PLOY}ED}

6   Worship of many Gods is a diabolical ploy to have them embrace one saviour at the beginning (10) POLYTHEISM {PLOY*}{THE{1}{Sa...r}M}

7   Say, spent Dec/Jan in West Indies at rented building (8) WINTERED {WI}{RENTED*}

8   I stepped out calmly and openly (8) PATENTLY PATiENTLY

14 S is related to me by a marriage, say (4-6) HALF-SISTER  [CD] What is the 'S' for? See comments

16 A leading strategist got into break when editor confronted (8) RESISTED {RES{1}{St...t}T}{ED}

17 Shipments of ally crossing Yemen's capital on road with no resistance, succeeded at the end (8) PAYLOADS {PA{Ye..n}L}{rOAD}{Su...d} Succeeded in the beginning or at the end?

18 Most peculiar to start for dinner, have bread at New York time (8) DROLLEST {Di...r}{ROLL}{EST}

22 Missing king's pants, it's a hoot (6) NICKER kNICKER

23 Fool returned money with shrewdness!... (6) NITWIT {TIN<=}{WIT}

24 ...after creating ruckuses involving us and him (6) SUCKER RUCKusES*

27 Yesterday uncle led elves from the entrance on Christmas (4) YULE Acrostic

Reference List

Oxygen = O, Once = EX, Old = O, Time = T, Auditor = CA, Strait = ST, Intellectual property = IP, New = N, Special = SP, Exercise = PT, 100 = C, English = E, Earl = E, Artist = RA, Editor = ED, Resistance = R, New York Time = EST(Easten Standard Time), King = K

No 14022, Friday 17 Nov 2023, Afterdark

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only.

Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS

1   Reactionary replaced leader with predecessor at centre (6) MARROW (-n+m)MARROW

4   Manasa harangues hiding in a desert (6) SAHARA [T]

9   American journalist is exploited (4) USED {US}{ED}

10 First male worker in ecstasy at firm (10) ADAMANTINE {ADAM}{ANT}{IN}{E}

11 Fabric from California, one at top in Chennai and Ohio (6) CALICO {CAL}{1}{Ch...i}{Ohio}

12 Obsession to somehow feed after one before nine to gain energy (4,4) IDEE FIXE {FEED}<=>{1} and {IX}{E}

13 A dish with pickle taken by a Telugu superstar reportedly (9) JAMBALAYA {JAM}{(~balayya)BALAYA}

15 Digital money at London area's leftover (1-4) E-CASH {EC}{ASH}

16 Draw out with lure when leader is absent (5) EDUCE sEDUCE

18 Fish procured through EMI at El Salvador consulates (9) EMBASSIES {EM{BASS}I}{ES}

22 Murderer controls an animal and a bird with tail clipped in boat that he steers (8) COXSWAIN {C{OX}{SWAn}IN} What's the role of 'in boat'?

23 Spots in the centre to drink (6) TIPPLE sTIPPLEs

25 Is our MO primarily vegetarian? No, cooks and eats everything (10) OMNIVOROUS {IS+OUR+MO+Ve...n+NO}*

26 In the middle of a mess in Dehradun picking leaders (4) AMID Acrostic

27 Setter's new canopy (6) TESTER* New meaning learnt today

28 When second half has substance, it leads to extra performance (6) ENCORE {whEN}{CORE}

DOWN

1   Cosmetic scam devised by odd characters abroad (7) MASCARA {SCAM*}{AbRoAd}

2   Mid-air man jumped off, broke some bones (5) RADII {mIDAIR}*

3   Managed love on rebound, jolly at the core amidst series of successes (2,1,4) ON A ROLL {RAN}{O}<={jOLLy}

5   Startled that Azerbaijan journalist kidnapped mom (6) AMAZED {A{MA}Z}{ED}

6   Camera feature is gold, cost us out of hand touring France (9) AUTOFOCUS {AU}{COST+Us} over {F} 'O' from?

7   Joins princess to have wild sex (7) ANNEXES {ANNE}{SEX*}

8   Actor Ron is almost more manly after exercising (7,6) MARILYN MONROE {RON+Is+MORE+MANLY}*

14 Seconds to master, invent tennis strokes (9) BACKSPINS {BACK{SPIN}S}

17 Habitually abused person at work by cruel matron when not working (7) DOORMAT {DO}{MATROn}* Working should be ON and not just N

19 Craftsman is biased? Positive? No (7) ARTISAN  pARTISAN

20 Uprising general's counterpart is slippery (3-4) EEL-LIKE {LEE<=}{LIKE}

21 Flatter Indian actor in audition (6) CAJOLE (~kajol)

24 I got into sleep upset having old instrument (5) PIANO {NA{i}P<=}{O}

Reference List

Journalist = ED, Ecstasy = E, Energy = E, Man = M, France = F, Positive = P, Old = O